CESC hopes for financial closure of 1,000 MW plant in Orissa by 2010

CESC Limited, the flagship company of the Kolkata-based RPG Group, expects to achieve financial closure for its 1,000 MW coal-based power plant at Neulapoi in Orissa’s Dhenkanal district by the end of next year.

CESC is yet to get the coal linkage for its proposed power project in Orissa. Without the coal linkage the company has been unable to achieve financial closure. Last month, the Orissa energy secretary had written to the joint secretary of the Union coal ministry, seeking allocation of long-term coal linkage in favour of CESC. “We are aiming to achieve financial closure for our proposed power plant in Orissa by the end of next year. Our application for coal linkage is under consideration of the Union coal ministry and we expect to get the linkage by the end of next year”, a top company official told Business Standard. The coal requirement for the power plant has been pegged at 4.53 million tonnes per annum. CESC is setting up a 1,000 MW power plant at Neulapoi in Dhenkanal district at an investment of about Rs 4,042 crore. The power project needs about 1,200 acres of land and land acquisition process is under way. The notification for land acquisition under Section 4 (1) is expected to be issued shortly.

The company had signed an MoU (memorandum of understanding) with the Orissa government on November 26 and the power project is scheduled to be operational by 2013.